Kansas City Royals’ win over the Brewers had a truly bizarre final out of the game
Milwaukee’s Daniel Vogelbach swung and missed the final pitch of the Royals’ 2-0 win on Tuesday night, and the strikeout ended the game.
But Vogelbach didn’t strike out. Instead the strikeout was given to Milwaukee’s Avisail Garcia.
Confused? To be fair, it was a very strange ending to the game at Kauffman Stadium.
Here’s how it went down: Royals relief pitcher Josh Staumont pitched the ninth inning and gave up a one-out single to Lorenzo Cain. Christian Yelich then struck out and Garcia stepped to the plate. He tried to check his swing on a 1-1 pitch, but first base umpire Adrian Johnson ruled Garcia swung.
Garcia vehemently objected to the strike call and was ejected from the game. So was Brewers manager Craig Counsell:
With Garcia tossed from the game, Vogelbach came on to finish the plate appearance with a 1-2 count. He saw just one pitch.
Because Garcia had left the game with a two-strike count, he was charged with the strikeout even though Vogelbach was at bat for strike three.
Now that’s strange, right?
Counsell said the ejection was unwarranted.
“I just don’t think a player can be ejected for simply just throwing his hand in the air,” Counsell said after the game. “And in the ninth inning with an at-bat with two outs going on, an umpire has to understand there is emotion in the game at that point and what’s wrong with that?
“That was my point: don’t take an emotional point of the game and put it in your hands and that’s what the umpire did right there. ... And that’s disappointing.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 9:33 AM.
